The White Woman on a Green Bicycle - Monique Roffey

George and Sabine Harwood arrive in Trinidad in 1956 intending to stay for two years. They stay for fifty and raise their family there. Although Sabine dislikes it intensely, her husband is very much at home and this is the cause of considerable unhappiness in their marriage. Sabine makes quite an impression in the early years. A beautiful woman of French descent she makes a striking picture riding around on her green bicycle. But life on the island wears her down and she becomes argumentative and disagreeable. The story covers their life on the island, their relationship with their children and each other, and Sabine’s obsession with Eric Williams, a local politician to whom she writes hundreds of letters, all unsent, as a way of unburdening her frustrations and unhappiness. The novel starts with their later years when George is a journalist for the Trinidad Guardian writing all the upbeat, good news stories the younger journalists won’t touch. The corruption in Trinidad, where there is no justice or opportunity for the native population, is illustrated in Talbot’s vicious beating by the police at the beginning. The early chapters cover George and Sabine’s strained, tortured relationship, George’s discovery of Sabine’s letters to Williams and his unsuccessful attempt to help Talbot, the son of their maid. George’s humiliation at the hands of the police is followed by his illness and his death and Sabine’s shooting of Bobby Comacho.

   Then the story goes back to their early life, its unhappiness and complications. Sabine hates Trinidad: George loves it and becomes a wealthy landowner and minor celebrity. After the attack on his house and the devastating attack on his dogs, George agrees to leave but they miss the boat and are fated to stay. The description of the island and the complex family relationships and the language draw the reader in to the story. Musical Venus is wonderful. The story covers so many aspects of life too:race, relationships, families, expat communities, politics and religion. There is much love and hate in the book. Bobby Comacho is vile. He stands for the state of things that were supposedly going to get better post-colonialism. For Sabine he epitomised all that had gone wrong with Trinidad. Her crime is shocking but understandable. Overall a good read.